The snow bit at his hands relentlessly, eating away at any feeling there.

It did not hurt.

The freezing winds that blew violently continued to remove the warmth from his face.

It did not hurt.

The frigid mounds of gathered snow on the ground stripped away at the use of his feet, cold water seeping in with every passing moment he stood there.

It did not hurt.

The man known as Kiritsugu Emiya would not feel pain as long as it remained physical. No matter what it was he would endure it through with his casual indifference that came so easily to him. Within the cold façade, however, lay a broken man in a pitiful state that most could not even begin to imagine. For no matter who the person in question is, none are spared from the horrors of war without losing a piece of themselves in the process. For this man who had lost so much, his suffering would not cease and life would continue to take more from him. For someone so used to loss, one would expect the individual in question to hold nothing in regard as little more than a tool to be used. Such was not the case this time.

Illyasviel von Einzbern.

A child like any other and yet exceptionally unique at the same time was the sole purpose that drove the Magus Killer to the lengths that brought him to the white barren no-man's land that lay in front of him, for there was none other in the world that could be called his child.

Such had been the case before but it was not so now.

"Hey old man, are we here?" asked a boy who stood next to the imposing figure of Kiritsugu Emiya. What was most noticeable was the difference in height between them - the boy appearing to be no older than eight, and a wisp of red hair that was visible from under the thick hood he wore. Like the older man next to him, the boy appeared to wear several layers of clothes to protect himself from the present weather.

Kiritsugu spared him a look and answered, "Yes, here we are Shirou." It was a sight he had seen many times in the past, and to the untrained eye, many would dismiss it as such. However, for those with the gift of magic the illusion was easy to see through, for in front of him lay the Einzbern Castle - towering above the great forest it was concealed behind. Many times before he had simply to continue to walk ahead and he would find himself within the confines of their establishment. Sadly, like many times before, this was not one of those times. Time and time again he had been rejected from entering the confines of the Einzbern Castle, ever since the incident known as the Holy Grail War.

It was Kiritsugu's greatest failure and likewise it had cost him greatly. The result took away his wife, cut him off from his daughter, shattered his dream, and would eventually take his life as well. Out of all of those he could only attempt to recover one, and those attempts had so far been unsuccessful for the past six months. Those times, he had tried again and again to break though the castle's defenses and bounded fields to reach his daughter to no avail. His slowly decaying Magical Circuits did him no favors there as well, and he knew very well that he would only have a few more attempts where he could use them to their best potential before they became little more than dead weight that would only serve to rush him to his death.

This time was different, however. He had not come alone, and most important of all he was not planning to attempt another rescue attempt. He did not know what it was exactly that had convinced to do so, but he had brought Shirou with him. The boy had simply not surrendered in his attempts to learn where the former assassin traveled to so frequently, and he had already been made aware of the existence of magic. Perhaps it was because he was a child and not yet accustomed to the realities imposed on the rest of the world, but Shirou had no trouble believing his new parental figure.

Learning to wield magic had been another issue entirely. Not to mention his initial reluctance in imparting such knowledge, but considering the circumstances in which they had met he could not help having a soft spot for the boy. Despite the initial surprise of having found the child to house twenty seven natural circuits, getting him to grasp the basics and apply them had been a difficult ordeal for the Magus Killer; he was no teacher himself, merely a practitioner of the arts. Still, he had made some progress there enough for Shirou to be able to detect the presence of bounded fields - at least since he appeared to be staring in the general direction of the Einzbern Castle in great contemplation, as if he were trying to make something out of the surrounding forest in front of him.

"It's beautiful," Shirou finally said, having taken his time to find and describe the scenery in front of him. It was a towering structure of great fortitude that was built to last and blended in perfectly with the perpetual snow, and yet it held an aura of elegance that did not fail to impress the young boy who had yet to see anything like it.

Kiritsugu merely acknowledged Shirou's comment with a nod, not quite sure himself of what to feel about the sight in front of him. In times past, he had merely spared a glance or two at the building and carried on with his duties seeing it as little more than his current headquarters. Now, however, it had come to represent more than that. At one point it had been where he had met the woman he would take his wife and where his daughter had spent her first happy years with him. The good memories were there, but the course of events that had transpired between then and now had changed his view of the place entirely. Now, it was little more than a prison that housed his daughter from him due to the influence of a stubborn old man who would not listen to the truth.

As he stared long and hard into the white abyss before him, Kiritsugu had no idea that the same was being done by the man he currently despised the most.

Jubstacheit von Einzbern. The current head of the Einzbern family stared long and hard into the forest, eyeing the tall dark figure that stood there today from the balcony of his castle. It was not an unusual sight not as of late particularly, seeing as how the man had yet to cease his attempts to break in, but that was that not what surprised him today. The elderly magus took notice of the second figure standing next to the Magus Killer and focused his interest there instead, seeing as how it was not someone he was familiar with. He found it to be a particularly interesting sight, considering who it was that was standing next to the child. Was it another assistant of his like that woman he had heard of who usually worked with him prior to his recruitment into the Einzbern family? The man's methods of assassination as well as the tools for their execution were far from the norm after all.

Filled with curiosity he continued to watch over them to see what it was that the Magus Killer would do this time. Surely, by this point he had already abandoned all hope of ever reaching the homunculus child of his hadn't he?

"He's quite the stubborn individual isn't he?" asked a voice from behind the Einzbern Head. It belonged to an elderly magus who wore a similar outfit to Jubstacheit, but lacked the cold piercing gaze that was always worn by the current head. The long silver hair that reached to his shoulders was there as well, although he lacked the white beard that stood out prominently in the man before him.

Jubstacheit did not spare the other magus in the room and merely nodded in acknowledgment. "Persistent pests are always the worst kind." Nothing of interest appeared to be unfolding before him so after a few moments he turned to the guest in his room. "What brings you here Gerhart?"

"The same person that has your attention, I'm afraid," Gerhart answered while nearing the balcony eventually coming to a stop once he stood next to the man.

Jubstacheit would not allow himself to snort loudly at that but allowed himself a caustic smirk, instead. "I was not aware that the actions of a mere failure would intrigue you so much."

Gerhart had the decency not to roll his eyes at the comment regarding Kiritsugu Emiya as a failure when Jubstacheit had been singing a completely different tune prior to the beginning of the 4th War. One failure was all it took to change that and little would convince Jubstacheit otherwise. However…

"Oh I care nothing for his attempts to take back the homunculus child of his," Gerhart shrugged, eyeing two figures that stood out before him, far away into the forest. "But the message I found on one of his familiars was particularly interesting."

Jubstacheit furrowed his brows in curiosity, "Do tell."

"The Grail is tainted."

Jubstacheit's gaze grew harsh upon hearing that and he waited for the man to continue for a few moments before finally asking, "Is that all?"

Gerhart chuckled sheepishly. "Well, that was all we were able to recover from the message when the homunculi guards did their job." He found it amusing actually to learn that a simple bat familiar had made it so far inside the Einzbern residence before meeting a grisly end via a gigantic battle axe.

Jubstacheit did not share the same sentiments as Gerhart, however, if his silence and piercing gaze was anything to go by. He briefly considered getting rid of the guards for their lack of efficiency before filing the thought for later. Homunculi did not come by cheaply after all, even to those who excelled in manufacturing them. "The man speaks nonsense, if such were the case why did he choose to inform us now and not before?" To the elder magus this was little more than a pathetic excuse to allow him entrance and he thought of himself as clever for spotting it.

"That may be so Acht," Gerhart said, calling him by his nickname, "But it does sound like a weak excuse to me if that were the case. Also… surely, you haven't forgotten about Avenger have you?"

Jubstacheit grimaced at the mention of the word 'Avenger'. If one looked back far enough or lived long enough, as was the case for him, one could find several failures among the history of the Einzbern. Starting with the loss of their fabled Third Magic, their next greatest loss was during the Third Grail War where they had attempted to break the rules to summon a superior servant that would award them the Holy Grail. Needless to say, such was not the result and instead they were dealt nothing more than an exceedingly mediocre servant that had failed to even make it past half of the War. If that had been the end of it, it would have been a small blessing in disguise but no such fortune was present. The vessel for the Grail itself had been lost during that conflict causing the entire remainder of the War to become little more than a bloodbath for a prize that no longer existed.

Gerhart continued, "Right after that incident, I couldn't quite place it at the time but something felt…off."

"Off?" Jubstacheit asked disbelievingly. "Surely, you do not believe the obvious trickery that comes from this man!? And if so why did not speak of this sooner!?

Gerhart sighed inwardly, having already predicted that this is how Jubstacheit would react. "At the time it was little more than a minor setback caused by the early destruction of the Grail that would correct itself with due time." He did not add that at the time Jubstacheit was furious enough to strike down anyone in his vicinity and had cost the Einzberns a handful of homunculi in his rampage - a statistic that he did not wish to become part of at the time. "Unfortunately, that was not how it turned out."

A silence so thick that one could slice it with a knife followed soon, neither man spoke a word for their eyes said plenty. One held a mask of neutrality to mask his true emotions while the other felt no such restraint and glared hard at the other, letting his anger visibly show on his face. It continued on for a while before the Einzbern head finally decided to turn his attention back to the two unwelcome guests, who remained rooted on the spot far ahead of him.

He thought long and hard about his next course of action. It would be simple to just ignore the current revelation as a mere coincidence of sorts that simply happened to match with what the Magus Killer had said. Gerhart could be punished for his silence, and Emiya would continue to remain little more than a hindrance with his unexpected appearances until he finally gave up.

And yet, what if he spoke the truth? The thought bothered him greatly, and he had not lived to this age by not heeding his instinct at crucial times like these. The last time he had chosen to ignore them had resulted in the loss of the Third Grail War, and that was a result he never wished to see repeated again. He closed his eyes and sighed audibly enough for the other man to hear. "Send them in."

Those words caught Gerhart off guard and he let it show, "Pardon me?" Jubstacheit fixed a glare on him and Gerhart soon found that he did not need to hear the man repeat himself twice. "Right away." He nodded in acknowledgment and left the room soon enough.

Jubstacheit looked back at the two individuals who would soon be entering his castle - an event that he would have never expected to see again in his lifetime. Even so he recognized the situation as it was, and if something were to be wrong with the Grail he could simply not afford that to happen, not after having been witness to so many failures in the span of his leadership. Anything less than victory for the next Holy Grail War was simply unacceptable to the man, and the Third Magic had eluded them long enough. If it turned out to be nothing, then the perfect opportunity would arise to tie up the loose end known as Kiritsugu Emiya. In his mind nothing would change greatly, even if Emiya were correct.

Oh how wrong he was.

Phew well there it is Chapter 1 of The Crumbling Stage, where it will all begin for Shirou Einzb- er I mean Shirou Emiya. Jubstacheit is from canon if you're curious but Gerhart is not because I will need a more open minded mage to make this story work cuz mages being well…mages aren't really so much for the forgive and forget approach. And we all know that if Acht had been left to make the final decision himself without any other things factoring in this fic would never take place. That's y it's a what if fic duh. I got the idea after seeing all sorts of Shirous in fanfiction including Shirou Kotomine and Shriou Aozaki so why not this one? Review if you have the time and let me know what you think. Pairings will be ShirouxEVERYONE, nah jk lol... or am I? o_O

Until next time Crazylazy007 out.

Betaed by Fanatical-Writer561.